Why do we have to be in a high school gym full of teenagers right now?
“I don’t mind this kind of dancing,” he murmured softly, his mouth mere inches from her ear, her scent enveloping him like a drug.
Knox was ready to lose himself in her—until he saw Addy and Aaron dancing a few feet away. That would have been fine if it wasn’t for the direction the boy’s hand was moving between their bodies, like he was trying to cop a feel of his girlfriend’s chest. As for Addy, her blue eyes were huge. She looked about three seconds from a full-on panic attack.
Aaron must have felt Knox staring at him because the punk jerked his head up, his eyes locking with Knox’s. They stared at each other for a few heartbeats before Aaron’s face went pale and he dropped his hand away from the place it had no business going. Knox continued to glare at him until Aaron got the idea and took a step back, putting a good six inches of space between him and Addy.
Knox grinned at him, silently promising dismemberment if he caught the twerp doing something like that again, then turned his attention back to Rachel as they moved to the music in their little corner of the floor. He realized then that his whole body was vibrating at the feel of having her in his arms. It must be some crazy werewolf thing because he’d never felt anything like this in his life. Maybe it was like plugging two overcharged batteries together the wrong way, getting instant heat and sparks. Then again, he’d never been around a woman like Rachel, so maybe that was the real reason.
Either way, he didn’t miss the easy rhythm they’d fallen into. They moved like they’d been together for years. At least, that’s what he told himself when lowered his head to bury his face in the waves of shiny blond hair resting there. Damn, she smelled so frigging good!
It might have been his imagination, but he was sure he felt a shiver run through Rachel’s body as she moved there with him. Praying it wasn’t a shudder of revulsion but worried it might be, he pulled back a little to check. At first, she didn’t seem all that interested in peeling herself off his chest, but when she finally looked up at him, her eyes seemed a little unfocused.
“You okay?” he asked softly. “Was that too close?”
Rachel smiled up at him. “I’m good,” she said, her voice rough and husky and so damn sexy.
Knox slid his hand an inch or so lower on Rachel’s back and allowed himself to enjoy the moment as she snuggled close to him again.
He had no idea how long they danced. It must have been at least three or four slow songs. All he knew for sure was that his heart was thudding so hard he had no doubt Rachel heard every beat. Not that she seemed to mind. If anything, she seemed to be doing her best right then to wiggle herself farther into his arms. He was good with that.
And yeah, it was doing something for him. Best of all, Rachel didn’t seem to mind the thing poking her in the belly any more than she minded his thudding heart.
Knox barely realized it was happening until it was already happening. But when he felt warm soft lips on his, he figured out that Rachel had tilted her face up to his and was kissing him. And he was kissing her back.
“Addy’s gone!”
The sound of panic in Ben’s voice jerked Knox out of the moment, and he broke the kiss and sprang apart to see the kid standing beside them, looking freaked out.
“What do you mean, Addy is gone?” Knox asked.
Looking around the dance floor, he saw that Aaron and Addy were in fact gone. He wasn’t sure for how long, but it couldn’t have been more than a song or two.
“Are you sure they didn’t go to the restroom?” Rachel asked, while Knox was still trying to figure out how long he’d been mentally absent from the dance. Good thing one of them still had some working brain cells. His had disappeared as soon as her arms had wrapped around him, which was kind of scary when he thought about it.
Ben explained that the teen couple had been missing for at least five minutes, though that sounded like an exaggeration to Knox. Regardless, Ben had already checked the bathrooms, the steps out in front of the gym, and the dark areas behind the building, where the seniors liked to go to make out.
“I even checked the parking lot,” the kid added. “Aaron’s bike is still here.”
Ben was obviously very industrious and perhaps a bit jealous. Maybe more than a bit.
“Where’s the last place you saw Addy?” Rachel asked.
The kid led them over to the refreshment table, arms waving as he pointed out the place in line he’d seen Addy and Aaron a while ago, waiting to get some nachos. “They were right here. I swear!”
Rachel glanced left and right, her nose in the air, before she headed for the exit. She moved fast, too. Like she knew exactly where Addy and Aaron had gone. Which she probably did.
“Where’s she going?” Ben asked, almost stumbling over his feet to keep up.
Knox didn’t answer. Rachel was obviously tracking Addy’s scent, but it wasn’t like he could tell Ben that.
As they left the gym and hurried along one hallway after another, Knox did his best to find and track Addy’s scent. He could definitely pick up a lot of smells, but he couldn’t separate them into anything unique to a particular person. In fact, the only scent he was able to lock onto was Rachel’s.
Ben babbled nonstop the whole way, sure Aaron had already dragged Addy away somewhere to make out with him.
Knox cursed silently. Why the hell hadn’t he been paying attention to the girl he was supposed to be protecting? Oh, yeah. Because he’d been acting like a hormonal teen himself with Rachel.
While most of Rachel’s attention was focused on tracking Addy’s scent, Knox could tell Ben’s words were bothering her, too. Her shoulders were lifting and falling rapidly as she breathed hard, and he’d caught a hint of red glow in her eyes when she glanced over her shoulder at him. Crap, she was about to lose it.
